Says executive order "drips with religious intolerance, animus and discrimination"

A federal appeals court refused to reinstate President Donald Trump’s revised travel ban, which targeted six Muslim-majority countries, saying that the ban represented a form of religious discrimination, reports Sabrina Toppa.

The court’s ruling stated that Trump’s order “drips with religious intolerance, animus and discrimination.”

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld the decision of a Maryland district court in March, which ruled that Trump’s ban was in violation of the Constitution’s equal protection clause, says Toppa.

Courts in Maryland and Hawaii had previously argued that many of Trump’s speeches during his campaign contained specific language against a religious group—for example, when he called for a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States.” Hence, Trump’s own words and widely publicized intentions render his discriminatory executive orders unconstitutional.